Leroy Harry Edwards (April 11, 1914 – August 25, 1971), nicknamed "Cowboy" and "Lefty", was one of the greatest basketball players of his era. He was an NCAA All-American at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

and also one of the most lauded professional players in the United States' National Basketball League's history.

High school

Edwards was a center who starred at

Arsenal Technical High School Arsenal Technical High School, commonly referred to as Tech or Arsenal Tech, is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, which is run by the Indianapolis Public Schools district. The school is located on a , multiple buildin ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. Back then, he was known as the "East Side Terror", and it was between his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

and junior years that he learned how to do a

hook shot In basketball, a hook shot is a play where the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball using a sweeping motion of the arm farther from the basket in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over ...

after watching a barn-storming basketball team perform the feat. He played for the varsity team in 1930–31, 1931–32 and 1932–33, leading the team in scoring his final two seasons while also helping to win the Indianapolis City Crown all three of his varsity seasons. Edwards was an all-state player who twice led the North Central Conference in scoring and also led Arsenal to the state quarterfinals as a junior in an era when there were no divisional breakdowns based on school enrollment. In his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season of 1932–33, Arsenal Tech lost in the sectional final against

Shortridge High School Shortridge High School is a public high school located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Shortridge is the home of the International Baccalaureate and arts and humanities programs of the Indianapolis Public Schools district (IPS). Origina ...

, a team they had beaten twice during the regular season, but still finished the year with a 22–3 record.

College

Edwards played one season of varsity basketball at the

. Due to NCAA rules, college

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary school, post-se ...

were not allowed to play varsity sports at the time. As a freshman in 1933–34, he set a college scoring record 24 points per game in 17 games as he guided the Kentucky freshmen team to an undefeated season. In 1934–35, his sophomore year and his first of varsity eligibility, he led the Wildcats to a 19–2 record. Averaging nearly 20 ppg, he set a single season point record that lasted until 1947 when teams began playing more games each season. One loss was to a very good

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

squad (32–26) and the other to

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

(NYU) at the old

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

NYU game

NYU and Kentucky were considered the best two college teams in the country at that time and playing for the national championship. A then-record 16,500 fans attended the match. A controversy occurred when sports writers said that Kentucky would have won this game if the two NYU players who were hanging onto Edwards throughout the game had fouls called on them. NYU won the game, 23–22.

Three-second rule

Edwards is generally recognized as the player responsible for the implementation of the three-second rule. Enacted in 1936, it was originally designed to limit rough play near the basket. The rule limits the time players can remain in the area in front of the basket known as the "paint" or free-throw lane. The rule has been modified and is still used today.

Early exit

In a different game that season, Edwards set another college basketball record, scoring 34 points against

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

. After coach

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed the "Baron of the Bluegrass", he coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats to four NCAA Division I men's basketball tournam ...

's retirement in 1972 he was asked who was the best center he had ever seen play the game and his answer was Leroy Edwards. He said Edwards was the strongest player that he ever coached and he played above the rim. Edwards, selected to the First Team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

, was also named the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

National College Player of the Year. Edwards left the University of Kentucky after just his sophomore year—an extremely rare decision for basketball players during that era—to start what would become an historical professional basketball career.

Professional career

When Edwards decided to play professional basketball he was considered the premier player in the country. In 1936 he signed his first pro contract with the Oshkosh All-Stars, a team in Wisconsin that played in the National Basketball League (NBL). This league was the forerunner to the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He played for them from 1936 to 1949. He was a prolific scorer with either hand, left or right, could shoot from the outside and was an excellent defensive player. He accomplished so much at a time when game scores and point totals were much lower than today. In those days, the actual playing time was shorter. The game had 15–17 minute halves and no 24 second shot clock. Play was slower and teams would play

zone defense Zone defense is a type of defensive system, used in team sports, which is the alternative to man-to-man defense; instead of each player guarding a corresponding player on the other team, each defensive player is given an area (a zone) to cover. ...

and hold on to the ball for long periods of time, making it very difficult for a player to score many points in a game. Today, NBA games consist of four 12 minute quarters and each team takes over 75 shots per game. Edwards held a number of game scoring records. He was the first professional basketball player to score 35 points in a game when he did so against the

Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at ...

on March 5, 1942. He led the NBL in scoring his first three years and in 1939 he led the league in every recorded offensive statistic. He ended his career as the second highest scorer in National Basketball League history. During Edwards's 12-year career, he was selected to the NBL First Team All-League six times and the Second Team All-League twice. He was also the League MVP three times. Oshkosh won the league championship six times and participated in nine of ten

World Professional Basketball Tournament The World Professional Basketball Tournament was an annual invitational tournament held in Chicago from 1939 to 1948 and sponsored by the ''Chicago Herald American''. Many teams came from the National Basketball League (United States), National Bas ...

events held in Chicago between 1939 and 1948. Edwards' team had the best record of all teams that were invited to the World Professional Basketball Tournament, winning 20 games and losing 10. The Oshkosh All Stars were crowned the World Professional Basketball Tournament champions in Chicago in 1942, and Edwards was the all-time leading point scorer in the tournaments history. On February 14, 1945,

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

recognized him as one of the Top 5 Basketball Players of All Time.

New York Rens rivalry

The

New York Renaissance The New York Renaissance, also known as the Renaissance Big R Five and as the Rens, were the first black-owned, all-black, fully-professional basketball team in history, established in October 1923, by Robert "Bob" Douglas. They were named after t ...

(Rens, for short) was the best black team of the era 1920–1940s. As in most sports, times were very difficult for black players. Nevertheless, the Rens were an excellent team with quality players; their record for the 1939 season was 112 wins and 7 losses. The epitome of their success came that year in Chicago at the first World Professional Basketball Tournament. The Rens had reached the finals and were playing the Oshkosh All-Stars. Oshkosh was favored because with Edwards at center, the All-Stars had beaten the Rens 7 out of 10 games they had played during the previous two years. That night the Rens beat Oshkosh 34–25. Edwards was the leading scorer of the tournament, scoring 49 points in three games, including a 12-point performance in the final. In total, the New York Rens and Oshkosh All-Stars played each other 33 times, with Oshkosh holding the edge with 17 wins. The entire New York Rens team is in the

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

. Their team played over 3000 games and won 85% of them. John Isaacs, a member of the Hall of Fame Rens team, was asked about Edwards. His comments were that Edwards was a great player who could play in any era. Isaacs also said that Edwards never complained to the officials during a game and would play hard. He added that Hall of Famer Tarzan Cooper and Edwards would talk to each other during the games. He recalled one game when Edwards said something to Cooper about a rough move that he made. Cooper responded by quipping 'who do you think I learned it from?'

George Mikan match-ups

Hall of Fame center

George Mikan George Lawrence Mikan Jr. (; June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed "Mr. Basketball", was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of ...

of the Chicago Gears and the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

, who stood , was named the best basketball player from 1900 to 1950 by the

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

(NABC). Mikan, however, did not get the opportunity to play against Edwards when Edwards was in his prime. They played against each other when Edwards was older and having chronic knee problems. Still, whenever they met on the court Edwards usually had the upper hand. Mikan later wrote in his book that Edwards was tall, weighed 260 lbs. and was the strongest player in professional basketball (although those measurements are exaggerated). When Mikan was asked who was the best player he ever faced he did not hesitate to say that it was Leroy Edwards. Hall of Famer

Ray Meyer Raymond Joseph Meyer (December 18, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois. He was well known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record. Care ...

, Mikan's coach at

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

, wrote that Edwards was not merely a good basketball player, but a great one. Meyer was impressed with his agility. Edwards, he wrote, had a great move with his back to the basket. He would turn left, dribble with his right hand and he'd use his left hand to push the defender out of the way. As long as his move wasn't too obvious, the ref would not call a foul. Meyer said this was the first time he ever saw that move.

Later years and death

On February 25, 1953, Edwards was sentenced to four months in prison for assault and battery of his wife. Edwards died of a heart attack on August 25, 1971, at roughly 7:30 p.m., at the age of 57 at his home in

Lawrence, Indiana Lawrence is a city in Lawrence Township, Marion County, Indiana, United States. It is one of four " excluded cities" in Marion County. The city is home to Fort Benjamin Harrison within Fort Harrison State Park. The population was 49,370 at ...

while mowing his yard. His wife and bystanders attempted to resuscitate him, but were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at arrival at the hospital. He had been an employee of

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

's Indianapolis plant before his death.

Legacy

Whether Leroy Edwards was playing college basketball for Kentucky or professionally against the New York Renaissance,

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

or the

, he contributed to basketball's development and popularity in the United States. He excited fans in an era without television coverage and very little radio publicity. Edwards, a pioneer of basketball, is in the

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...

Hall of Fame and the University of Kentucky's Athletics Hall of Fame. Though as of 2023, despite being a nominee numerous times, he has yet to be inducted in the

Career statistics

NBL

Source

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1937–38 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 13 , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 83* , , 44 , , 63 , , .698 , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 210* , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 16.2* , - , style="text-align:left;", 1938–39 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , style="background:#afdc5c;", 28* , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 124* , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 86* , , 118 , , .729 , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 334* , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 11.9* , - , style="text-align:left;", 1939–40 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , style="background:#afdc5c;", 28* , , 111 , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 139* , , 203 , , .685 , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 361* , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 12.9* , - , style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;", 1940–41† , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 23 , , 57 , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 76* , , 121 , , .628 , , 190 , , 8.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;", 1941–42† , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , style="background:#afdc5c;", 24* , , 85 , , 92 , , , , , , 262 , , 10.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1942–43 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 23 , , 74 , , 72 , , 103 , , .699 , , 220 , , 9.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1943–44 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 19 , , 48 , , 52 , , 92 , , .565 , , 148 , , 7.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1944–45 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , style="background:#afdc5c;", 30* , , 125 , , 157 , , , , , , 407 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1945–46 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , style="background:#afdc5c;", 34* , , 120 , , style="background:#afdc5c;", 119* , , 200 , , .595 , , 359 , , 10.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1946–47 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 44 , , 135 , , 144 , , 222 , , .649 , , 414 , , 9.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1947–48 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 46 , , 76 , , 142 , , 205 , , .693 , , 294 , , 6.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1948–49 , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 10 , , 7 , , 8 , , 20 , , .400 , , 22 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 322 , , 1,045 , , style="background:#b8c6c1;", 1,131‡ , , 1,347 , , .655 , , 3,221 , , 10.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 5 , , 24 , , 21 , , , , , , 69 , , 13.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1939 This year also marks the start of the World War II, Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Events related to World War II have a "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Coming into effect in Nazi Ger ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 5 , , 23 , , 24 , , , , , , 70 , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 8 , , 33 , , 27 , , , , , , 93 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;",

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

† , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 5 , , 23 , , 25 , , , , , , 71 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#ffe6fa;",

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

† , style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 5 , , 30 , , 23 , , , , , , 83 , , 16.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 � ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 2 , , 8 , , 8 , , , , , , 24 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free France, Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command First Army (France), French Army B, part of the Sixt ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 3 , , 6 , , 5 , , , , , , 17 , , 5.7 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 5 , , 15 , , 14 , , 21 , , .667 , , 44 , , 8.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 6 , , 7 , , 3 , , 14 , , .214 , , 17 , , 2.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 4 , , 13 , , 15 , , 23 , , .652 , , 41 , , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

, style="text-align:left;", Oshkosh , 6 , , 7 , , 5 , , 11 , , .455 , , 19 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 54 , , 189 , , 170 , , 69 , , .536 , , 548 , , 10.1

Awards and accolades

The following is a more comprehensive list of Edwards' myriad awards, accolades and records than could reasonably be placed in an infobox. (Sources)

Indianapolis Arsenal Tech

*3× Arsenal Tech team were Indianapolis City tournament champions *2× team's leading scorer *2× All-North Central Conference *2× All-State

College

*School freshman scoring record 24 points per game (over 400 points) *School single game scoring record (34 points) in a game against Creighton, a record which stood until 1949 *Leading scorer in the South (343 points) in 1935 *343 points scored in 21 games was the highest season points scored by a Kentucky player until 1947, when it was broken in a 37-game season *Points per game average of 16.3 was the highest per game average of any Kentucky player until 1945 *1935 Consensus All-American (Helms 1st Team, Converse 2nd Team) *Credited with the introduction of the 3-second rule, which forbid an offensive player from remaining inside the free-throw lane (with or without the ball) for longer than three seconds; this rule was instituted in 1936 *1930s All-Decade Team selection by the

(NABC) *

All-Decade Team (1934–1943) *

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

All-Time Collegiate Team (as of February 1943) *Adolph Rupp's All-Star Kentucky Squad (1930–1972) as named in John McGill's book ''Kentucky Sports''

Professional

*6× NBL Western Division championships with the Oshkosh All-Stars: 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946 *2× NBL championships: 1941, 1942 *Scored a record 30 points in game against Kankakee (first NBL player to score 30+ points in a professional game) in 1937–38 *3× NBL scoring leader: 1938 (16.2 ppg), 1939 (11.9 ppg), 1940 (12.9 ppg) *3× NBL MVP: 1938, 1939, 1940 *6× All-NBL First Team: 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1945 *2× All-NBL Second Team: 1943, 1946 *In 1938–39, lead league in every recorded offensive statistic *

champion (1942) *3×

(WPBL) All-Tournament First Team: 1939, 1940, 1946 *All-time leading scorer in WPBL history *All-time NBL League team honoree *Second in all-time scoring in the NBL (3,221 points in 322 games for an average of 10.0 ppg)

Career

selection as one of top 5 greatest professional players all-time (1945) *

Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (1971) *

inductee (1975) *

Indiana Sports Hall of Fame The Indiana Sports Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that honors sports achievements by athletes, coaches, administrators, officials, broadcasters, and journalists in the U.S. state of Indiana. Founded in 2020, the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame does not ...

inductee (2024) * Association of Professional Basketball Researchers (APBR) Top-100 Professional Basketball Players of the 20th Century * University of Kentucky's Athletics Hall of Fame inductee (2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Leroy 1914 births 1971 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players Basketball players from Indianapolis Centers (basketball) Indianapolis Kautskys players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Oshkosh All-Stars players People from Crawfordsville, Indiana American men's basketball players Arsenal Technical High School alumni American sportspeople convicted of crimes Violence against women in Indiana

High school

College

NYU game

Three-second rule

Early exit

Professional career

New York Rens rivalry

George Mikan match-ups

Later years and death

Legacy

Career statistics

NBL

Regular season

Playoffs

Awards and accolades

Indianapolis Arsenal Tech

College

Professional

Career

See also

References